Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2013

Pursuant to the Committee’s Decision 35 COM 7B.98 (UNESCO, 2011), the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property on 30 January 2013. The new “Commission for protection of the Vilnius Historic Centre” was established in 2011 with the continued aim to identify threats to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and address them through conservation and management measures. An Activity Plan for 2013-2015 was developed and approved by the two relevant ministries. The State Party also reports that a Special Plan to regulate the construction of high-rise buildings is under preparation and expected to be completed in 2013. This will address concerns regarding the potential impact on the OUV of the property from future constructions beyond the buffer zone.

Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2013

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies consider that the requests of the Committee for the property are being adequately addressed and that no further reporting to the World Heritage Committee is required at this stage. However, they will continue working closely with the State Party in monitoring the state of conservation of the property. The State Party is encouraged to submit a copy of the above-mentioned Activity Plan, as well as the regulations concerning the construction of high-rise buildings to the World Heritage Centre for evaluation by the Advisory Bodies. The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies will also maintain collaboration with the State Party for the final architectural design of the “Park of Architecture” project, in order to ensure the achievement of appropriate results in the large scale project and to avoid any adverse impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property.

3. Takes note with satisfaction of the measures taken by the States Parties concerned to address its previous requests to mitigate the threats on the Outstanding Universal Value of the following World Heritage properties :

Old Town of Lijiang (China)

Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (China)

San Augustin Arhcaeological Park (Colombia)

Historic Centre of Český Krumlov (Czech Republic)

Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (Hungary)

Taj Mahal (India)

Agra Fort (India)

Fatehpur Sikri (India)

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (India)

Prambanan Temple Compounds (Indonesia)

Monte San Giorgio (Italy / Switzerland)

Vilnius Historic centre (Lithuania)

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)

Historic centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco (Mexico)

Camino real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico)

Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana (Peru)

City of Cuzco (Peru)

Churches of Moldavia (Romania)

Ensemble of the Ferrapontov Monastery (Russian Federation)

Island of Gorée (Senegal)

Works of Antoni Gaudi (Spain)

4. Encourages the States Parties concerned to pursue their efforts to ensure the conservation of World Heritage properties;

5. Reminds the States Parties concerned to inform the World Heritage Centre in due course about any major development project which may affect the Outstanding Universal Value of a property, before any irreversible commitments are made, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines .

Germany: Classical Weimar; Messel Pit Fossil Site; Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier; Aachen Cathedral; Cologne Cathedral; Hanseatic City of Lübeck; Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar; Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin; Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof; Speyer Cathedral; Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen; Town of Bamberg;

Greece: Mount Athos;

Honduras: Maya Site of Copan;

Hungary: Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings; Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment; Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae); Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape; Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta; Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue;

Mexico: Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan; Historic Centre of Morelia; Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl; Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro; Historic Fortified Town of Campeche; Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro; Agave Landscape and the Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila; Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino; Ancient Maya City of Calakmul, Campeche; Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco; Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan; Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza; Historic Centre of Zacatecas; Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán; Sian Ka’an; Luis Barragán House and Studio; Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco; Archaeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes; Historic Centre of Puebla; Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines; Pre-hispanic town of Uxmal; Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara; Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California; Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco; Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque; El Tajin, Pre-Hispanic City;

Turkey: Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia; Nemrut Dağ; Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği; Hierapolis-Pamukkale;

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Blaenavon Industrial Landscape; Blenheim Palace; Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church; Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd; City of Bath; Durham Castle and Cathedral; Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast; Heart of Neolithic Orkney; Ironbridge Gorge; Maritime Greenwich; New Lanark; Old and New Towns of Edinburgh; Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites; Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey; Tower of London; St Kilda; Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church;

Uruguay: Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento;

Uzbekistan: Itchan Kala;

Venezuela : Coro and its Port; Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas;

4. Decides that retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value for World Heritage properties in Danger will be reviewed by the Advisory Bodies in priority;

5. Further decides that, considering the high number of retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value to be examined, the order in which they will be reviewed by the Advisory Bodies will follow the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting, namely:

World Heritage properties in the Arab States;

World Heritage properties in Africa;

World Heritage properties in Asia and the Pacific;

World Heritage properties in Latin America and the Caribbean;

World Heritage properties in Europe and North America;

6. Requests the World Heritage Centre to harmonise all sub-headings in the adopted Statements of Outstanding Universal Value where appropriate and when resources and staff time allow to carry out this work;

7. Also requests the State Parties, Advisory Bodies and World Heritage Centre to ensure the use of gender-neutral language in the Statements proposed for adoption to the World Heritage Committee;

8. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to keep the adopted Statements in line with subsequent decisions by the World Heritage Committee concerning name changes of World Heritage properties, and to reflect them throughout the text of the Statements, in consultation with States Parties and Advisory Bodies;

9. Finally requests the States Parties to provide support to the World Heritage Centre for translation of the adopted Statements of Outstanding Universal Value into English or French respectively, and finally requests the Centre to upload these onto its web-pages.

3. Takes note with satisfaction of the measures taken by the States Parties concerned to address its previous requests to mitigate the threats on the Outstanding Universal Value of the following World Heritage properties :

· Old Town of Lijiang (China)

· Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (China)

· San Augustin Arhcaeological Park (Colombia)

· Historic Centre of Český Krumlov (Czech Republic)

· Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (Hungary)

· Taj Mahal (India)

· Agra Fort (India)

· Fatehpur Sikri (India)

· Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (India)

· Prambanan Temple Compounds (Indonesia)

· Monte San Giorgio (Italy / Switzerland)

· Vilnius Historic centre (Lithuania)

· Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)

· Historic centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco (Mexico)

· Camino real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico)

· Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana (Peru)

· City of Cuzco (Peru)

· Churches of Moldavia (Romania)

· Ensemble of the Ferrapontov Monastery (Russian Federation)

· Island of Gorée (Senegal)

· Works of Antoni Gaudi (Spain)

4. Encourages the States Parties concerned to pursue their efforts to ensure the conservation of World Heritage properties;

5. Reminds the States Parties concerned to inform the World Heritage Centre in due course about any major development project that may negatively impact the Outstanding Universal Value of a property, before any irreversible commitments are made, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

Documents examined by the Committee in 2013

Exports

* :
The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).